AMA head says doctors need higher Medicare payments, lawsuit protection

Days before the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the biggest overhaul of federal health care law in five decades, the nation's most powerful group of physicians said Saturday it may push for major changes should the reforms land again in the hands of Congress.American Medical Association president Dr. Peter Carmel argued that higher payments are needed for doctor's who treat patients through the federal Medicare program. At the kickoff event for the roughly 300,000-member association's annual meeting at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Carmel said doctors' stagnant reimbursement rate from Medicare is "not sustainable."